Rescue Cat & Orphaned Rhino Are Adorable Kindred Spirits

Jamie Traynor is the caretaker and manager of The Rhino Orphanage in Limpopo, South Africa which rescues and rehabilitates orphaned and injured rhinos. Last April, Traynor adopted a 4-week-old kitten named Mewie who has lived among the rhinos ever since. The ginger cat is never far from Traynor’s side, so when a new arrival came to the orphanage requiring constant attention, Mewie insisted on helping out, too!

Nandi is a baby white rhino whose mother was killed by poachers when she was just 8-weeks-old. Frightened, alone and hungry, poor little Nandi ingested sand that had to be surgically removed from her stomach after her rescue. For the first few weeks after she arrived at the orphanage, Traynor slept with Nandi, which of course meant that Mewie also slept with Nandi!

As Nandi regained her strength, Traynor began taking her for daily walks around the property as part of her recovery. Mewie would trot along with them, and as the days passed, the unlikely pair slowly began to bond over their shared affection for the woman who saved their lives. Traynor told the Times Live:

“Mewie is a very brave and curious cat and he’s grown up around rhinos so I’m pretty sure he thinks that he’s a rhino.”

Here they are enjoying one of their daily romps together which was likely followed by an adorable tandem nap!

Nandi is doing great thanks to the kindness and devotion of her rescuers at The Rhino Orphanage. Soon she will be ready to enter the adoption program where supporters can sponsor her until she is fully ready to return to life in the wild as nature intended.

But don’t worry about Mewie – he’s already started to bond with another of the orphanage’s rescues, an adorable rhino calf named J’aime!